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Ever wonder how certain characters, letters, signs or symbols are created when they don’t readily appear on your keyboard? You mean there is a hidden or secret formula within your keyboard? Well, not really….. Continue on and learn in this brief tutorial.

Whether you’re a student preparing a research paper, a business executive composing an important project proposal, a blogger looking to familiarize him/herself with lettering shortcuts, or a tourist jotting down memories of your latest vacation, a keyboard symbols chart or glossary can be a helpful reference tool.

H1N1 fears lead to rush on Tamiflu

Parents are scrambling to find the liquid medicine for their kids

Original Article by Rob Stein

The Washington Post

Posted @ 7:26 a.m. CT, Thursday, October 29, 2009

Reprinted here due to expiration of original post:

Then it was the quest for the vaccine. Now, as increasing numbers of children are coming down with swine flu, more parents are facing yet another anxiety-provoking chase: the hunt for liquid Tamiflu for kids.

Spot shortages of the liquid form of the medicine are forcing mothers and fathers to drive from pharmacy to pharmacy, often late into the evening after getting a diagnosis and prescription from a pediatrician, in search of the syrupy concoction recommended for the youngest victims of the global pandemic.

“It was so frustrating,” said Cheryl Copeland of Silver Spring, who finally found some of the elusive medication for her sick 5-year-old son, William, at an independent drug store Monday after being turned away by a CVS and Rite Aid. “There was a moment when the first pharmacist said, ‘We don’t have it. There’s been a run on it,’ When I said to myself, ‘Where on Earth am I going to find it?’ “

The drug can make the flu milder, go away more quickly and may cut the risk of serious, potentially life-threatening complications. The shortages are being caused by a surge in demand because of the second wave of swine flu sweeping the country, combined with a decision by the Swiss company that makes the medication to focus on producing the drug in capsules.

In response, the federal government has shipped hundreds of thousands of courses to states from the Strategic National Stockpile, which is on standby in case there are bioterrorism attacks or natural disease outbreaks. Officials have also instructed doctors to suggest that pharmacists break open capsules and mix the powdered contents with syrup to make a liquefied version for children on their own if the company’s version is unavailable.

‘Patients are getting treated’
The Food and Drug Administration and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also posted the formula for pharmacists to follow, including guidelines for the correct dosing by each child’s weight.

Taken together, federal health officials are confident that there is enough Tamiflu available in the capsule or liquid forms to make sure children can get treated promptly.

“For the most part, patients, are getting treated,” said Greg Burel, director of the CDC’s division of the Strategic National Stockpile. “There have been shortages in sporadic spots, but generally it’s still available.”

Roche, the manufacturer, is still producing the liquid form of the medication. But after consulting with U.S. and World Health Organization officials, the firm decided to focus on the capsules when it ramped up production to meet an expected surge in demand after the H1N1 virus emerged in the spring. That allows it to produce 25 times the amount of medication it would have otherwise, officials said.

“The bottom line is looking at how the company could ramp up as quickly as possible to get as much medicine out as possible. This was the best way to do it,” said company spokeswoman Kristina Becker, noting that the company has been increasing production capacity in 2005 since the ominous avian flu virus emerged in Asia.

The company also makes lower-dose capsules that children can take or parents can open themselves to mix the powder with a sweetened liquid to help them take it. But they should do this carefully following a doctor’s instructions to ensure the proper dose, officials said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released 300,000 doses of the liquid formulation from the national stockpile earlier this month, including some doses that had to be tested by FDA to make sure they were still potent because their expiration dates had expired.

“We believe the shortage may become more severe as the disease progresses in coming weeks,” Burel said. “So what we tried to do is take steps to fill a potential gap.”

Anxious hours for parentsBut the spot shortages are creating anxious hours for many parents, especially because children appear to be among those at greatest risk from the disease. While the overwhelming majority of children who get swine flu recover, nearly 100 children have died from the disease so far this year, which is about double the number that die from the flu in a typical winter. The antiviral medication, also known as oseltamivir, along with another called zanamivir or Relenza, is highly effective, especially when administered within the first 48 hours of developing symptoms.

“The earlier the better,” said Tim Uyeki, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC’s influenza division. “Antiviral treatment should be started as quickly as possible.”

In fact, in response to the pandemic the FDA issued a special emergency authorization in April allowing the use of Tamiflu for children younger than age 1. But many infants, and many other young children, can only swallow the liquid form of Tamiflu.

‘It was pretty stressful’
Shelley Waters Boots of Silver Spring scrambled to find some liquid Tamiflu for her 2-year-old son, Carlin, who was prescribed the medication at Holy Cross Hospital last week after being diagnosed with the swine flu. Carlin is considered at high risk because of his asthma. The first seven pharmacies Boots tried did not have it, prompting her to start frantically calling relatives in New York, Florida and California before finally finding the medicine at the same pharmacy where Copeland did.

“I was like, ‘Thank god!’ It was pretty stressful,” Waters Boots said. “They said it was so important to get it in the next 48 hours. So that night before I found it I was freaking out.”

The Kensington Pharmacy, which filled the prescriptions for Copeland and Boots, has been getting requests for 10 to 15 prescriptions a day.

“The formula is very simple,” Tunc Husseyin, the pharmacy’s owner, adding, however, that the process was more time-consuming than filling a typical prescription. “A lot of other pharmacies are calling us to see if we make it and sending us their patients.”

Stores still experiencing shortages
Major drug store chains, including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Wal-Mart, say pharmacists at all their stores can prepare the liquid form of the medication individually, a process known as “compounding.” But several of the national chains said that some of their stores were still experiencing spot shortages if they ran low on the capsules or the syrup, which is made by two companies that have been racing to keep up with demand as well.

In some cases, pharmacies have run low because of sudden outbreaks, such as what recently occurred in Crystal Lake, Ill.

“All of a sudden you have hundreds of kids out of school and we couldn’t anticipate hundreds of prescriptions coming in within several hours,” said James Cohn, a Walgreens spokesman. “Within 24 hours or so we are able to get supplies back into the location. But over time we’re seeing more and more instances where there have been shortages.”

Combined with her hunt for vaccine for her son and daughter, who also got the flu, Boots was frustrated by the government’s response to the pandemic.

“We’ve been too little too late on both counts,” she said. “It’s the same story.”

If you need a little break from your online activities, try the following brain teasers. See how many of these can you figure out in your head. For the most part, these are questions of logic. The last four are especially challenging. Some of these may be great for winning bets from your slightly intoxicated buds at the local bar, club, pub, tavern or at least the next round of drinks.

Question #1 –

A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms — The first is full of raging fires — The second is full of assassins with loaded guns — And the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in 3 years. — Now, which room is safest for him?

Question #2 –

A woman shoots her husband — Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes — Finally, she hangs him — But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner — How can this be?

Question #3 –

A magician was boasting one day at how long he could hold his breath under water — His record was 6 minutes — A kid that was listening said, “that’s nothing, I can stay under water for 10 minutes using no type of equipment or air pockets!” — The magician told the kid if he could do that, he’d give him $10,000 — The kid did it and won the money — Can you figure out how?

Question #4 –

There are two plastic jugs filled with water — How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?

Question #5 –

What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?

Question #6 –

Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?

Question #7 –

This is an unusual paragraph. I’m curious how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it? It looks so plain you would think nothing was wrong with it! In fact, nothing is wrong with it! It is unusual though. Study it, and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out! Try to do so without any coaching!

Question #8 –

You are participating in a race — You overtake the second person — What position are you in?

Question #9 –

If you overtake the last person, then you are…?

Question #10 –

(in your head!) —- Take 1000 and add 40 to it — Now add another 1000 — Now add 30 — Add another 1000 — Now add 20 — Now add another 1000 — Now add 10 — What is the total?

Question #11 –

Mary’s father has five daughters — 1. Nana – 2. Nene – 3. Nini – 4. Nono — What is the name of the fifth daughter?

Now how many could you answer?

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Scroll down for answers…

It seems that over the years, even some of the largest corporate advertising executives didn’t always do enough investigative research in their “homework” when it came to marketing American products in other parts of the world. Some of their marketing campaigns turned into embarrassing fiascos during translations from English into local native languages in other parts of the world. Checkout some of the more notorious as well as humorous examples below.

In China, the Coca-Cola name was initially read as “Kekoukela”, which meant “Bite the Wax Tadpole” or “Female Horse Stuffed with Wax”, depending upon the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent – “kokoukole”, which translates into “Happiness in the Mouth.”

General Motors had a notoriously famous fiasco when they tried to market the car model, Nova in Central and South America. Seems that “No va” in Spanish means, “It Doesn’t Go.”

The Dairy Association’s huge success with the campaign, “Got Milk?” prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention that the Spanish translation read “Are You Lactating?”

When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its “Fly In Leather” campaign literally, which meant “Fly Naked” (vuela en cuero) in Spanish.

Remember the Pepsi advertising campaign back in the 60’s, “Come Alive, You’re in the Pepsi Generation”? Well, that didn’t go over too well when translated into Chinese. What it meant was, “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave.”

Coors put its slogan, “Turn It Loose,” into Spanish, where it was translated as “Suffer From Diarrhea.”

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, which just happened to be the name of a notorious porno magazine.

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the United States, with the smiling baby on the label. They later learned that companies in Africa routinely put pictures on the product label of what’s inside, since many people are illiterate and can’t read.

In Germany, Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick,” which was a curling iron, only to find out that “mist” is slang in German translation for manure. Not too many people had use for the “Manure Stick.”

Frank Perdue’s chicken slogan, “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken,” was translated into Spanish as “it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”

Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: “Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux”.

An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market that promoted the Pope’s visit. Instead of “I saw the Pope” (el Papa), the shirts read “I Saw the Potato” (la papa).

When the Parker Pen Company marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.” The company thought that the word “embarazar” (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

For parents wishing to keep Halloween in check for the younger ones, here is a helpful list containing some suggestions of the best scary films for children to watch during the Halloween holiday week or weekend. Some of these films are not appropriate for some of the younger children, so please use your discretion. Film ratings have been provided.

In reverse chronological order of release, the following few films are commonly referred to as the “Best Kids Halloween Movies” from a small collective of ‘family friendly’ websites that include Common Sense Media, About.com and FamilyManagement.com

Life can be frustrating at times… and sometimes over the smallest things. It’s during those times that we just need to take time out, step back and think of the things we’ve learned or perhaps the knowledge we acquired by doing it the ‘wrong way’ the fist time around. Those are the times we just need to remember WHAT the Rules of Life really are…

So here’s a simple reminder of some of the wise things we’ve learned over the years.

Apply them again as necessary! 😛

Lessons Learned

Living By The Rules of Life

(1)–In Life, you need only two “tools” — WD-40 and duct tape.

If it doesn’t move and it should — use WD-40.

If it moves and shouldn’t — use the tape.

(2) – The 5 most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship are:

“I apologize”AND“You are right.”

(3)–When you make a mistake… make amends immediately.

It’s easier to eat crow while it’s still warm.

(4) – Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.

(5) – Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

(6) – The best advice that your mother ever gave you was:

“Go! – You might meet somebody!”

(7) – If he/she says that you are too good for him/her…..

Believe them!

(8) – Learn to choose your battles wisely – You need to ask yourself…

‘Will this matter one year from now?

How about one month? – One week? – One day?’

(9) – Never pass up an opportunity to pee.

(10) – If you woke up breathing…..

Congratulations! ….. You have another chance!

(11) – Living well really is the best revenge…..

Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you after all.

(12) – Be really nice to your friends because…..

You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.

(13) – The real art of conversation is…..

Not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

(14) – That no matter how serious your life requires you to be…..

Everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.

(15) – Sometimes all a person needs…..

Is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

(16) – I accept good advice gracefully…..

As long as it doesn’t interfere with what I intended to do in the first place.

(17) – Light travels faster than sound.

This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

(18) – Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

(19) – We cannot change the direction of the wind…..

But — we can adjust our sails.

(20) – I Don’t Have An Attitude Problem…..

You Have a perception problem!

(21) – How long a minute is…..

Depends on which side of the bathroom door you’re on.

And About The Kids……….

(22) – You spend the first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk…..

Then you spend the next 16 telling them to sit down and shut-up.

(23) – Grandchildren are God’s reward for not killing your children.

(24) – Be nice to your kids.

For one day they’ll be choosing your nursing home.

THE 12 BASIC HOUSE RULES

….. just a simple reminder

If you had the opportunity to add any of your own tips from lessons you’ve learned, please drop me a comment so I can share your advice with other viewers…

Anybody remember any of these liquor-related mascots over the years? Anyone sober enough to care? 😛 These are just a handful of characters used to promote alcoholic beverages over the years on TV as well as in magazines, newspapers, etc. A few are still in use today.